Justin Long Says Britney Spears Was ‘Disarmingly Down-to Earth’ on ‘Crossroads’ Set

“For all the hoopla surrounding her,” Justin Long said he was “struck by how normal and easygoing” Britney Spears was on the set of their 2002 coming-of-age film Crossroads

Justin Long is fondly recalling one of his favorite costars.

The actor, 44, recalled Britney Spears being “normal and easygoing” as he reminisced about working together on their 2002 coming-of-age movie Crossroads while speaking to ET about his new film Barbarian.

“I remember her being so down-to-earth, like disarmingly down-to-earth,” he said. “I remember being struck by how normal and easygoing she seemed for all the hoopla surrounding her.

“And then a couple of years later seeing what the paparazzi did to her, it was really sad that we live in that kind of culture that can do that to a human being. She was so nice to everyone,” Long added.

Penned by Shonda Rhimes, Crossroads starred Spears, 40, as Lucy, a high school valedictorian who embarks on a cross-country road trip with her two childhood best friends (Zoe Saldaña and Taryn Manning) to meet her long-lost mother (Kim Cattrall).

Long played Henry, one of Lucy’s friends, with whom she went to prom and had a brief fling.

The Barbarian actor previously spoke to PEOPLE about his experience on Crossroads, recounting his and Spears’ kiss scene. “I gotta say she was so sweet and down to earth. It was really disarming,” he said in 2019.

“At one point our legs were intertwined and she goes, ‘I’m so sorry if my legs… I haven’t shaved in a few days, my legs might be a little prickly.’ And I go, ‘I’m sure they’re fine,'” he continued.

“She goes, ‘No, no, they’re totally not, they’re really prickly.’ And she goes, ‘Feel,’ and she put my hand on her thigh and it was like baby’s ass,” Long said, laughing.

“It was like silk. I swear, it was the smoothest thing I’d ever felt, it was like a dolphin.”

Long can be seen in Barbarian, premiering in theaters Sept. 9.